Heating a potato in the microwave causes steam to gather, so piercing holes in the potato prevents it from exploding from the pressure. Washing your sweet potato before cooking is especially important if you also plan to eat the potato’s skin.
Never microwave a potato when it’s wrapped in aluminum foil. This is a fire hazard and will likely also break your microwave.
This is the standard cooking time for 1 potato. If you’re cooking multiple sweet potatoes at once, add 2 minutes to the total cooking time for each potato. For example, you’d cook 2 potatoes for 7 minutes total, 3 potatoes for 9 minutes, and so on.
Be careful when you test the potato! It’s likely to be quite hot. When in doubt, it’s best to err on the side of undercooking, as an overcooked potato may burn or explode in the microwave.
Letting the potato cool allows it to finish cooking—and helps the flesh of the potato get fluffier before you eat it. To save the potato for someone who’s running late to dinner, wrap it in aluminum foil. That’ll keep the potato warm for a remarkably long time! If you need to store the potato after cooking it, you can put it in a sealable container and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat the potato in the microwave at 50% power.
You’ll need to hold the potato for the next step, so check to ensure you can touch it without your hands getting burned before proceeding.
Since your potato is cooked, the skins should fall away easily as you pull. You can always leave the skin on the sweet potato if you like mashed potatoes with some extra texture to them.
You can also mash the potato using a fork if you don’t have a potato masher or use a food processor to do the job.
You can add other spices to your potato slices if you like! You might add a dash of garlic and chile powder to savory chips, or a sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar to sweet ones, for example.
Feel free to add another dash of salt once the chips are done cooking if you like!
If you want to add more to your sweet potato, add a couple of other classic toppings—namely, a scoop of sour cream and a few diced chives. You don’t have to add anything on top of the potato if you like its flavor as is. There’s no hard and fast rule on how to serve a cooked sweet potato, after all!
You can also sprinkle small pieces of bacon or sliced sausage over the potato if you enjoy meat. Feel free to experiment! Play around with savory toppings like olive oil, avocado, pico de gallo, salsa, sauteed vegetables, and condiments like mustard, ketchup, and steak sauce.
You could even serve this sweet version of a baked potato up as a desert if you like!
This method is great if you want oven-crisp potato skins in less than half the normal cooking time! Normally, sweet potatoes take 45 to 50 minutes to bake in the oven.
For a lighter fare, pair your sweet potato with something quick and tasty like yogurt or applesauce!
